Checks / AI crawler access
robots.txt blocks Claude-SearchBot
Claude-SearchBot is the search crawler of one of the big AI assistants.
robots_claude_searchbot · AI crawler access · Error
What triggers it
robots.txt does not let Claude-SearchBot fetch your home page (a Disallow rule in its own group, or in the * group when no group names it), and it leaves no other path open for it.
What to change
Remove the Disallow rule for Claude-SearchBot in robots.txt.
Example
Lines that allow Claude-SearchBot in robots.txt:
User-agent: Claude-SearchBot
Allow: /How to confirm the fix
- Open https://example.com/robots.txt: no group that names Claude-SearchBot (or the * group, if none does) disallows the home page
- Run a new crawl: the AI crawler table lists Claude-SearchBot as allowed
About Claude-SearchBot
Claude-SearchBot is the Anthropic robot that navigates the web to improve search result quality. Anthropic says disabling it prevents indexing of your content for search optimization, which may reduce your visibility and accuracy in user search results. Its robots.txt token is Claude-SearchBot.
Anthropic names two effects of disabling it: your content is not indexed for search optimization, and your site's visibility and accuracy in user search results may fall.
Job: Search. Follows robots.txt: Yes, Anthropic says its robots respect robots.txt.
Claude-SearchBot: operator, user-agent string and address list
How common it is
On a sample, the study measured robots.txt blocking Claude-SearchBot on the homepage's site: 0 of 294 Show HN sites (0%), and 0 of 67 Lovable sites (0%).
Fetched 20 and 21 Oct 2026 as CitedBot, robots.txt obeyed, no JavaScript. Study: Launch crawl 2026-10 (English).
About this check
| Check ID | robots_claude_searchbot |
|---|---|
| Report section | AI crawler access |
| Severity | Error |
| How it is decided | Measured: read directly from the page or the server's response. |
| Added | Before 19 Oct 2026 (versions 1 and 2), or a site-wide check with no version date yet |
| Status | Measured in every report |
| Report gives the code | Yes, one block for the site |
Settings by platform
For robots.txt, where the setting lives differs by platform. Our guides cover 13 of them: AI crawler settings by platform.
Related checks
- Pages return an error status
- robots.txt blocks ChatGPT-User
- robots.txt blocks Claude-User
- robots.txt blocks OAI-SearchBot
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